Govt. plans to impose 'bed tax' for hotel rooms in London

London: The government is planning to implement a ‘bed tax’ of five percent of the room tariff on 2100 hotels, spread across London city . Once implemented , it could add around £3.40 to the hotel room cost per night.

A recent report, published by the Greater London Assembly (GLA), said that a Berlin-style tax of 5 per cent of the room rate per night could generate £240 million per year. The bed tax would be applicable for all budget and star rated hotels as the authorities informed that taxing only four and five star hotels in the capital would not raise that much revenue.

The chief executive of the British Hospitality Association, Ufi Ibrahim stated that a bed tax, however small, will discourage guests from staying overnight and reduce the amount they spend in the wider London economy, impacting shops and restaurants as well as hotels and the local bed taxes will make it even harder for British businesses to compete.

According to the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, this is just a discussion with those in the hotel industry about how to make sure London stays special. He also said, especially with hotels facing all sorts of pressures with the shared economy, the rise of , what they don’t want to do, is cause damage to their brilliant hotels, some of the best in the world.